Concrete casting form tie hole plugs

ABSTRACT

The concrete casting form tie hole plug is formed from a cementitious mixture and includes a reinforcing strand extending internally throughout the length of the plug, to reinforce the plug to resist fracturing. The reinforcing strand is preferably fiberglass, and the cementitious mixture may be formed from Portland cement, sand, and water, and may include an adhesion promoter.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based on Provisional Patent Application No.60/837,817, filed Aug. 15, 2006.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to the field of concrete construction,and more particularly relates to a molded plug, formed of a cementmixture reinforced with a reinforcing strand extending coaxially alongthe length of the plug, for filling holes in cast concrete created bythe use of tapered steel form ties to hold together concrete castingforms.

In the formation of concrete structures such as bridges and varioustypes of concrete pours, tapered steel form ties are commonly used tohold the concrete forms together. When the tapered ties are pulled, andthe forms dismantled, there are holes left where the tapered ties were.These holes have traditionally been filled with dry packed cement, whichwas typically a tedious and time-consuming process. More recently, whilepreformed, molded cement plugs have been used to repair the voids leftby form ties when they are pulled, resulting in marked improvement inspeed and efficiency of form tie hole repair, it was discovered that thepreformed plugs were fragile and were often broken during the process offilling tapered tie holes with the preformed plugs. It would thereforebe desirable to provide concrete casting form tie hole plugs that arereinforced to resist fracturing when inserted in holes left by theremoval of tapered ties from formed concrete structures. The presentinvention meets these and other needs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Briefly, and in general terms, the present invention provides for aconcrete casting form tie hole plug formed from a cementitious mixtureand including a reinforcing strand extending internally throughout thelength of the plug, to reinforce the plug to resist fracturing.

Accordingly, the present invention provides for a concrete casting formtie hole plug, including a tapered elongated shaft formed of a hardenedcementitious mixture, the tapered elongated shaft having a wide end, anarrow end and a longitudinal axis, and a reinforcing strand extendingsubstantially coaxially through the tapered elongated shaft from thewide end to the narrow end of the shaft. In a presently preferredaspect, the reinforcing strand is formed of fiberglass. In anotherpresently preferred aspect, the cementitious mixture may be formed fromPortland cement, sand, and water. The cementitious mixture may alsoinclude an adhesion promoter.

The present invention also provides for a method of forming the concretecasting form tie hole plug of the invention. In the method of theinvention, a mold having an internal elongated tapered mold chamber witha wide end and a narrow end is filled with a cement compound slurry. Areinforcing strand is inserted substantially coaxially in the moldthrough the cement compound slurry and extending from the wide end ofthe mold to the narrow end of the mold, and the cement compound slurryis allowed to harden to form a hardened cementitious concrete castingform tie hole plug, after which the hardened cementitious taper tie holeplug is removed from the mold.

These and other aspects and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent from the following detailed description and the accompanyingdrawing, which illustrates by way of example the features of theinvention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The FIGURE is a schematic diagram of a concrete casting form tie holeplug according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to the FIGURE, which is provided by way of example, and not byway of limitation, the present invention provides for a concrete castingform tie hole plug 10, having a tapered, generally cylindrical elongatedshaft 12 formed of a hardened cementitious mixture. In a presentlypreferred aspect, the cementitious mixture is formed of Portland cement,sand, and water, and may include an adhesion promoter. The taperedelongated shaft has a wide end 14, a narrow end 16, and a longitudinalaxis 18. Typically the outer diameter of the wide end of the taperedelongated shaft is approximately 1⅜ inch (approx. 3.49 cm), the outerdiameter of the narrow end of the tapered elongated shaft isapproximately 1⅛ inch (approx. 2.86 cm), and the tapered elongated shaftis typically approximately 23 inches long (approx. 58.4 cm), althoughthe size and dimensions of the concrete casting form tie hole plug willbe dictated by size of the form ties used, and are not limited to thesizes given here by way of example.

In a presently preferred aspect, the concrete casting form tie hole plugadvantageously includes a reinforcing strand 20 extending substantiallycoaxially through the tapered elongated shaft from the wide end to thenarrow end of the shaft, to resist fracturing of the concrete castingform tie hole plug when it is inserted in a tapered tie hole. In anotherpresently preferred aspect, the reinforcing strand is formed offiberglass.

The method of the invention for forming the concrete casting form tiehole plug involves providing a mold having an internal elongatedtapered, generally cylindrical, hollow mold chamber with a wide end, anarrow end, and a longitudinal axis, and filling the mold with a cementcompound slurry, such as a mixture of Portland cement, sand, and water,for example. The cement compound slurry may also include an adhesionpromoter. A reinforcing strand is then inserted substantially coaxiallyin the mold through the cement compound slurry with a special tool, withthe reinforcing strand extending from the wide end of the mold to thenarrow end of the mold. In a presently preferred aspect, the reinforcingstrand is formed of fiberglass. The cement compound slurry is thenallowed to harden to form the hardened cementitious concrete castingform tie hole plug, and the hardened plug can then be removed from themold.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that while a particular form ofthe invention has been illustrated and described, various modificationscan be made without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention. Accordingly, it is not intended that the invention belimited, except as by the appended claims.

1. A concrete casting form tie hole plug, comprising: a tapered,generally cylindrical elongated shaft formed of a hardened cementitiousmixture, said tapered elongated shaft having a wide end, a narrow endand a longitudinal axis; and a reinforcing strand extendingsubstantially coaxially through the tapered elongated shaft from thewide end to the narrow end of the shaft.
 2. The concrete casting formtie hole plug of claim 1, wherein the cementitious mixture comprisesPortland cement, sand and water.
 3. The concrete casting form tie holeplug of claim 2, wherein the cementitious mixture further comprises anadhesion promoter.
 4. The concrete casting form tie hole plug of claim1, wherein the reinforcing strand comprises fiberglass.
 5. A method offorming a concrete casting form tie hole plug, comprising the steps of:providing a mold having an internal elongated tapered, generallycylindrical, hollow mold chamber having a wide end, a narrow end, and alongitudinal axis; filling the mold with a cement compound slurry;inserting a reinforcing strand substantially coaxially in the moldthrough the cement compound slurry and extending from the wide end ofthe mold to the narrow end of the mold; allowing the cement compoundslurry to harden to form a hardened cementitious concrete casting formtie hole plug; and removing the hardened cementitious concrete castingform tie hole plug from the mold.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein saidcement compound slurry comprises a mixture of Portland cement, sand andwater.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein said cement compound slurryfurther comprises an adhesion promoter.
 8. The method of claim 5,wherein said reinforcing strand comprises fiberglass.